Mike Lee - The Privilege of Innocence

“Go west, young man!” An iconic phrase that drove America’s westward expansion—a call to citizens and immigrants alike, to embrace Manifest Destiny and seek new lands, prosperity, and freedom.

- By Charlotte Pyatt. Portrait by OnArtStudio

Over the last century, the romantic notion of The American Dream has transitioned drastically. Emerging from a culture of exploitation, our understanding has transitioned from one of equality to one of capitalism… for the life you can’t afford but can purchase on credit.

Mike Lee is a Korean-American artist, born in California to parents who migrated from Korea in the 1980s. For his last exhibition Homecoming at Jason Haam Gallery in Seoul, Mike Lee considered the currency affording young people the privilege of innocence; juxtaposing The American Dream with the global political economy.

Culture and identity continue to be prevailing themes, as his faceless characters become vehicles for memory and expectation. Across a monochromatic spectrum, grayscale gradients and bold shapes soften and overlap to render a more familiar vista, while clean lines collide with naive brisk strokes. From everyday moments of domesticity to Apache helicopters, Mike contrasts the transnational experience of the frontier myth through the lens of his Korean heritage and family photographs.

Charlotte Pyatt: From geometric forms and abstraction, Homecoming offers a more naturalistic arrangement for you. What inspired this shift?

Mike Lee: With Homecoming, I kept thinking back to a painting titled “61 Pontiac” by the American artist Robert Bechtle, a photorealistic painter from the Bay Area. His focus on observation and beautifying suburban middle America reflected the spirit of what I wanted to capture for this show.